the speaker of the house, john boehner, summoned reporters, gave a formal speech. he used a teleprompter because it was important to get the words right and he had a message to send to the president. kelly o'donnell covers the hill for us, and she is there tonight. kelly, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. quite a conciliatory tone today, and there's new urgency here and we'll all be hearing a lot more of this term fiscal cliff. that is the danger of another recession unless congress acts before the new year. that's when taxes go up as the bush era rates expire, the payroll tax back up to its normal rate after a two-year break, and a big across-the-board unless washington does something about the long-term deficit. today congressional leaders started their public negotiations. >> i want to work together, but i want everyone to also understand you can't push us around. >> mr. president, this is your moment. we're ready to be led. not as democrats or republicans but as americans. we want you to lead. >> reporter: there are differenting solutions. democra